Here’s What You Don’t Know and Weren’t Taught About the Crusades III

First Crusade: In addition to what was noted in the previous blogs, the First Crusade was also in response to a plea from the Byzantine Empire. There were thousands people that came to the call that suffered and died. They marched thousands of miles across Europe.
They crossed the Bosporus at Constantinople, and then marched to Nicaea. Thousands of people that needed to be fed and sheltered on the move. The logistics boggle the mind. They restored the city to the Byzantine Emperor and then on to Anatolia and restored to Christian control the city of Antioch, one of the ancient patriarchates of Christianity. Keep in mind a lot of these Crusaders were not professional soldiers. Marching on they captured Edessa. Moving on, down the coast they come to Jerusalem. They captured it in July 1099. This Crusade completed what it set out to do. That it was done is amazing. So many people in a strange land, so unprepared, yet so successful. The rest of the story doesn’t show much success.

The Second Crusade, led by two kings and preached by St. Bernard of Clair Vaux, failed dramatically. Edessa had been lost, and this Crusade was to regain it. The leaders fought each other, undermined each other, and were an abysmal failure. It even strengthened a powerful Muslim leader. They tried to take Damascus and that failed too. Results of the Second Crusade, failure.

Third Crusade: A famous adventure, written about in many books, fiction and non-fiction, and movies, because the story involved Richard the Lionheart against Saladin. The fight was for Jerusalem. Results of the Third Crusade, failure.

Forth Crusade: This is the one where the Crusaders reached Constantinople, the largest, most powerful Christian city in the world; sacked it and dispersed. This was the source of the split between Western and Eastern Christendom.
The purpose of this one was to recapture Jerusalem. The Byzantine Empire and Turkey were still mad at what happened the last time the Crusaders crossed their land, destroying their crops, fields and cities, so the leaders of this Crusade thought they would sail across the Mediterranean. They didn’t have boats, so they went to Vienna, gave them some blank checks, and the Venetians asked them how many ships for how many people, supplies and livestock. The Crusaders ordered transportation and provisions for 33,500 men and 4,500 horses, and the Pope said, go ahead and do it. It took awhile, and eventually all ships and tons of provisions were ready. Only about 12,000 folks showed up. The Crusaders didn’t have the money as a result. To make amends the Venetians requested the Crusaders sack Zara, a city on the Dalmatian coast. The ruler of the city was the Hungarian king, which had signed on to the Crusades and was a supporter. The city was also a Catholic. They moved on to Constantinople and hoped to get to Egypt from there. A lot of misunderstanding. The city got sacked. The Pope was TO’d and excommunicated the lot. The Crusade didn’t even make it to the Middle East. Results of the Forth Crusade, failure.

Albigensian Crusade: Big civil war in France. Cathars were wiped out and Southern France’s attempt at independence from Northern France was squashed.

Children's Crusade: The leader of the French army, Stephen, led 30,000 children. The leader of the German army, Nicholas, led 7,000 children. The history of this Crusade is fuzzy. Some of the kids made it back home, a lot settled along the route, many were sold into slavery in the Middle East and North Africa, or died of starvation.

Fifth Crusade: This was organized by the Church, and was directed by professional administrators and soldiers to recapture Jerusalem. The captured the city of Damietta, and were then ordered to take Cairo. Lost that battle hugely. Major defeat. Results of the Fifth Crusade, failure.

The next crusade and the Fifth can be viewed as the same. Fredrick II had led the Fifth, went back and negotiated a settlement with the ruler of Egypt. This lasted for about ten years. He got Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem; Muslims got Muslims were given control of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa mosque.

Over the next few years and Crusades, nothing else much happened. A lot of skirmishes in Europe. The Crusades as we were taught, and what Muslims were taught is incorrect.
If there should be any grievances, the West should be stating them. Now, a thousand years later, Muslims are again killing to convert, using both terrorism and the laws of democratic states to conquer.

Bear in the Woods

An atheist was taking a walk through the woods. "What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!" he said to himself.

As he was walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look. He saw a 7 foot grizzly charge towards him. He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder ans saw that the bear was closing in on him. He looked over his shoulder again, the bear was even closer. His heart was pumping frantically and he tried to run even faster. He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw the bear right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him.

At that instant the Atheist cried out: "Oh my God, save me!" Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky: "You deny my existence for all of these years, teach others I don't exist, and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?" The atheist looked directly into the light, "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask You to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps, could you make the BEAR a Christian?"

"Very well, " said the voice. The light went out and the sounds of the forest resumed. Then the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, and bowed his head and spoke: "Lord, bless this food which I am about to receive and for which I am truly thankful".

Here’s What You Don’t Know and Weren’t Taught About the Crusades II

The other aspect was of course the religious component. It is now politically incorrect to justify, as noted above, religion as a motivation for war. Jerusalem and the surrounding area was, for Christians at the time, holy land. Jesus walked, taught, lived, died and was resurrected there. Pope Urban was the one that called for the First Crusade, saying:
“They (the Turks) have completely destroyed some of God’s churches and they have converted others to the uses of their own cult. They ruin the altars with filth and defilement. They circumcise Christians and smear the blood from the circumcision over the altar or throw it into the baptismal fonts. They are pleased to kill others by cutting open their bellies, extracting the end of their intestines, and tying it to a stake. Then, with flogging, they drive their victims around the stake until, when their viscera have spilled out; they fall dead on the ground. They tie others, again, to stakes and shoot arrow at them; they seize other, stretch out their necks, and try to see whether they can cut off their heads with a single blow of a naked sword. And what shall I say about the shocking rape of women?”

The Crusade was to be a pilgrimage, and a holy endeavor. It was to bring grace and penance. It was originally for able bodied men that could fight. But everyone, women and the elderly wanted to go. What happened was that Urban relented and as a result, many sick, poor, children, women and other people unfit for soldiering went. Not just this crusade but the following ones.

Who went? About 150,000 from all European countries went. Most were poor, many were women. There were about 40,000 men in the First Crusade. Very few Knights, and these had armies. These weren’t loser knights, weak sons, etc, but barons, lords, estate owners, many of whom lost everything, including their lives. It was expensive too. Funds had to be raised because the cost was far beyond what it took to run their estates.

As part of Urban’s degree, captured lands were to be left to the Byzantine emperor. Most knights, after fulfilling their vows, returned to Europe with adding to their wealth, and often were impoverished and had to rebuild. The same for the poor; no wealth to be gained. A lot of ways to die. Starvation, bandits and robbers, attacks from Muslim armies. Were there ill intentioned people making the journey? Surely. I contend most were doing it for exactly the reasons they stated. Protect Europe, the Holy Land, and Christianity.

The scriptures that motivated: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt. 16:24) “And everyone that has forsaken houses, or brethren, or sister, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life: (Matt 19:29)

The Switch

A man was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife stayed home. He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed: "Dear Lord, I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home. I want her to know what I go through, so please allow her body to switch with mine for a day."

God, in his infinite wisdom granted the man's wish. The next morning, sure enough, the man awoke as a woman.

He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate, awakened the kids, set out their school clothes, fed them breakfast, packed their lunches, drove them to school, came home and picked up the dry cleaning, took it to the cleaners and stopped at the bank to make a deposit, went grocery shopping, then drove home to put away the groceries, paid the bills and balanced the check book. He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog.

Then it was already 1pm and he hurried to make the beds, do the laundry, vacuum, dust, and sweep and mop the kitchen floor. Ran to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with them on the way home. Set out cookies and milk and got the kids organized to do their homework, then set up the ironging boared and watched TV while he did the ironing. At 4:30 he began peeling potatoes and washing vegetables for salad, breaded the pork chops and snapped fresh beans for super.

After supper he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded laundry, bathed the kids, and put them to bed. At 9pm he was exhausted and, though his daily chores weren't finished, he went to bed where he was expected to make love which he managed to get through with complaint.

The next morning he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said, "Lord, I don't know what I was thinking. I was so wrong to envy my wife's being able to stay home all day. Please, oh please, let us trade back."

The Lord, in his infinite wisdom replied, "My son, I feel you have learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were.

"You'll just have to wait nine months, though.
You got pregnant last night."

Here’s What You Don’t Know and Weren’t Taught About the Crusades I

Here’s What You Don’t Know and Weren’t Taught About the Crusades

The word “crusade” comes from “cruce-signati” meaning “those signed by the cross”. It’s modern meaning is for any huge endeavor; for example, a crusade against illiteracy, or poverty. The original Crusades have come to be viewed as a military campaign, religious warfare. Of course religious warfare is despicable, but wars for real estate and secular ideology are okay. The exception in modern time is militant Islamofascism. “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”

The big clash now between Western Civilization and Islam is a repeat of what happened about a thousand years ago. Christianity had no armies until the Roman Emperor Constantine got converted from paganism about 312 CE. Jesus had no armies. Mohammed had armies. I believe sources need to be looked at; they inform thoughts and behavior or any organization and belief.

Mohammed began by waging war, first against Mecca, the neighboring villages and towns to consolidate his power. He ended up conquering all of Arabia and the Middle East; Persia, Egypt and Syria. After his death, Islam continued to use military might to conquer and convert. They conquered North Africa. Moved across the Straits of Gibraltar and conquered Spain. They met defeat in France. On the other side of Europe, Islamic armies moved in deep, claiming Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia.
They had ships on the Danube. In 846 CE a naval expedition entered the River Tiber and Arab forces sacked Ostia and Rome.

The Crusades were a defensive measure. I’ll start with the First Crusade, which was a success, and then over the next few posts show how the rest were at best marginal failures and others absolute failures.

We Surround Them

Do you watch the direction that America is being taken in and feel powerless to stop it?

Do you believe that your voice isn’t loud enough to be heard above the noise anymore?

Do you read the headlines everyday and feel an empty pit in your stomach…as if you’re completely alone?

If so, then you’ve fallen for the Wizard of Oz lie. While the voices you hear in the distance may sound intimidating, as if they surround us from all sides—the reality is very different. Once you pull the curtain away you realize that there are only a few people pressing the buttons, and their voices are weak. The truth is that they don’t surround us at all.

We surround them.

So, how do we show America what’s really behind the curtain? Below are nine simple principles. If you believe in at least seven of them, then we have something in common. I urge you to read the instructions at the end for how to help make your voice heard.

The Nine Principles

1. America is good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

You Are Not Alone

If you agree with at least seven of those principles, then you are not alone.

From Glenn Beck glennbeck.com

Hamas In Their Own Voices

Obama says there is no war on terror. That we can make peace with these guys just by being nice and the force of his personality. By the way, Jimmy Carter (D. Georgia) openly supports Hamas and is an anti-Semite.

Message fm Michael Steele/ New Republian Party Chair

"This is Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Democrats have controlled both branches of government for less than a month. And you have to wonder if all that power has gone to their heads.

"For the last two weeks, they've been trying to force a massive spending bill through Congress under the guise of economic relief.

"All of us -- Republicans and Democrats -- agree the government must act to kick-start the American economy. American families are doing their best to balance their own budgets and pay their mortgages.

"The fastest way to help those families is by letting them keep more of the money they earn. Individual empowerment: that's how you stimulate the economy.

"But the Democrats have a different philosophy. Instead of leaving money in the family checkbook, they want to send it to Washington, run it through a slow and inefficient government, and hope that does some good.

"When families keep the money, they spend it, save it, or invest it. And the private sector economy benefits when families and businesses buy consumer goods or invest it for the future. But when Washington spends the money, some of it may flow into the economy, but all too often, much gets wasted.

"Democrats in Congress want a one-trillion dollar spending bill. You've heard about the pork-barrel programs they want to fund... 45 million dollars for ATV trails and removal of fish passage barriers is one that caught my eye. Exactly what is a fish passage barrier and why does it cost 45 million dollars to stimulate the economy with it?

"That's why Republicans in the House voted against uncontrolled spending. This is not a bragging point, but rather a statement that at least Republicans would stand with the American taxpayer.

"But voting 'no' is not enough... and Republicans have offered innovative ideas to help struggling families and small businesses. We've offered plans to spark job creation and investment through lower taxes, to stop the taxation of unemployment benefits, and to help Americans keep their jobs and their homes.

"The comprehensive Republican plan would lower taxes for all working American families. If you're married, the first 16,750 dollars you make this year will be taxed at ten percent. Why don't we cut that rate in half to give instant buying power to every working American family?

"Good ideas... lots of them... all left out of this plan by the Democrats in Congress.

"Republicans stand ready to work with reasonable Democrats to do what is right for America.

"But it will take more than bipartisan words from the President. It will require fair-minded action from Democrats in Congress.

Daschle's Hypocrisy

Daschle's Hypocrisy
Rudy Gersten
Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Tom Daschle wants us believe it when he says his failure to pay $128,000 in taxes was an honest mistake. He wants us to believe that not reporting $250,000 in compensation involving a limousine and driver over three years was just an accident, and his decision to pay those taxes after he was nominated to head the Health and Human Services Department was merely a coincidence. He can explain why he wasn’t at fault when he failed to pay an additional $88,000 in work as a consultant—earnings he still has not paid taxes on—and can explain how he accidentally overstated his charitable giving by $15,000 in tax deductible donations.

The former Senate Majority Leader from South Dakota, who once declared on the Senate floor “tax-cheaters cheat us all,” has been doing a lot explaining this week. In a letter to leaders of the Senate Finance Committee, who will decide his fate, Daschle urged his former colleagues in the Senate to believe his “mistakes were unintentional.”

And yet, when he was on the other side of the Senate confirmation process, Daschle didn’t extend the same courtesy to another cabinet nominee whose nomination hit a bump in the road.

Shortly after my mother Linda Chavez was nominated by President Bush to be Secretary of Labor in January of 2001, ABC News reported that she had given room and board to an undocumented woman from Guatemala. As Chavez stated at the time, she had provided the battered woman with emergency assistance due to the domestic abuse she was facing at the time, got her enrolled in English classes, and helped her find work with a neighbor. In her own defense, Chavez pointed to her long history of taking in those in need, and a long history of paying taxes on household help from legal citizens, as tax records confirmed.

But Chavez’s honest explanation was completely disregarded by Daschle. Less than a week after Bush announced the nomination, the then-Minority Leader declared he had “serious problems” with the illegal alien revelations and threatened to filibuster her nomination, a move that would have been the first in our nation’s history against a cabinet nominee.

Daschle told CBS’ Face the Nation at the time that a cabinet secretary “ought to set the example, ought to be able to enforce all of the laws. If she hasn’t been able to do that in the past, one would have serious questions about whether she’d be able to do it in her capacity as secretary of labor.” But Chavez broke no laws. Shamefully, Daschle was turning what was an act of charity by Chavez into irresponsible accusations.

Though Chavez and her immigrant houseguest—now a U.S. citizen—both insisted that their relationship hadn’t been that of employer/employee, Daschle refused to entertain the explanation. And yet now, hoping to be confirmed by the Senate after much more serious allegations, Daschle wants to be taken at his word that his were honest mistakes.

Chavez eventually withdrew her nomination as Secretary of Labor, expressing regret that her controversy was becoming a distraction for the incoming Bush administration. Daschle applauded the withdrawal, stating without irony that “Ms. Chavez made the right decision…There should be no question that the person who is in charge of enforcing America's labor laws respects those laws.”

Daschle ought to make the right decision now as well, and withdraw his nomination to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. After all, there should be no question that someone who is in charge of enforcing America’s laws be able to respect those laws.

But in all likelihood, that won’t happen. In the end, Senators must decide for themselves whether to apply the same standards to Daschle that he applied to others.

Copyright © 2009 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.

It's All the Republicans Fault (Those Wascaly Wepublicans)

Blame the Republicans: "[T]his does read to the public as though the Republicans went after [Tom Daschle], someone that the president very much wanted, and brought him down." --MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell

Those blasted Republicans again: "Not one Republican voted for
[the House stimulus package], turning a cold shoulder to the president's appeal
for bipartisan support." --ABC's Charlie Gibson

++ "Have the Republicans no shame? After swarming around President Obama like adolescent girls swooning over the Jonas brothers, getting their picture taken with him and accepting his invitation to a White House cocktail party, every Republican in the House still voted like Rush Limbaugh instructed them to -- registering a big fat 'no' on Obama's stimulus plan." --Newsweek's Eleanor Clift

"But don't you think that right now ... it behooves the
Republicans to be a little bit more in the middle? I mean ... their voices
aren't going to be heard anyway, as we saw with this economic stimulus plan. ...
So doesn't it behoove them to be more bipartisan and meet in the middle?"
--CBS's Maggie Rodriguez to Ann Coulter

Relationships

My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping
through the channels.
She asked, 'What's on TV?'
I said, 'Dust.'

And then the fight started...



I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some
reason, took my order first.
"I'll have the strip steak, medium rare,
please."
He said, "Aren't you worried about the mad
cow?""
Nah, she can order for herself."

And then the fight started...



A woman is standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror.
She is not happy with what she sees and says to her
husband,' I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly.
I really need you to pay me a compliment.'
The husband replies, 'Your eyesight's damn near
perfect.'

And then the fight started.....



I tried to talk my wife into buying a case of Miller Light
for $14.95.
Instead, she bought a jar of cold cream for $7.95.
I told her the beer would make her look better at night
than the cold cream.

And then the fight started....



My wife asked me if a certain dress made her butt look big.
I told her not as much as the dress she wore yesterday

And then the fight started.....




A man and a woman were asleep like two innocent babies.
Suddenly, at 3 o'clock in the morning, a loud noise
came from outside.
The woman, bewildered, jumped up from the bed and yelled
at the man
'Holy crap. That must be my husband!'
So the man jumped out of the bed; scared and naked jumped
out the window. He smashed himself on the ground, ran through a
thorn bush and to his car as fast as he could go.
A few minutes later he returned and went up to the bedroom
and screamed at the woman, 'I AM your husband!'
The woman yelled back, 'Yeah, then why were you
running?'

And then the fight started.....




My wife and I are watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
while we were in bed. I turned to her and said, "Do you want to
have sex?"
"No," she answered.
I then said, "Is that your final answer?"
She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying
"Yes."
So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend."

And that's when the fight started....

Christianity, Paganism, Women

I'm watching the government and corporate attack on Christianity in this country. I'm watching the attack on women world wide. I'm looking at the attack and exploitation of women and children worldwide. I'm thinking we are regressing to paganism in the West. Some think it's okay to exploit and disrespect women, like was done in pagan times, before Jesus said some things about it.

In ancient times, women and children were of little to no value. Infanticide was common. Wanted a son, but had a daughter; kill her. Can you name a country now that engages in that practice? All humans without power were killed for entertainment (Roman lions and gladiators). Women and children, said even by great philosophers like Aristotle and Cicero, were of no worth. It was the prevalent thinking of ancient Jewish society. The family was of no importance at all. The state was responsible for the raising of children (it takes a village, anyone?)

Jesus comes along and tells people that this is wrong. He had women travel with him. He had women as confidantes. Even some of his disciples objected to this teaching, that women were to be respected, and had value. Adultery could only be committed by women. Jesus said no, this is an equal sin. In marriage women were given a more dignified position. Actually, when I read early church history, women seem to have run things.

As we move to the Middle Ages, courtly behavior toward women emerged. Courtesy began to be offered to women. The family started to become important, and woman's role in holding the family together and caring for and educating children became important. Romantic love was the foundation of this. That romantic love was different from what is expressed now. Now it's okay if you're horny for each other, well, get married. Hornyness goes away, get divorced. Romantic love as the basis was of course the ideal; a good ideal even though we fall short in practice. This ideal brought together erotic and spiritual love. The consent of the woman was prerequisite for marriage. Marriages no longer had to be arranged. Marriage was a reflection of God's relationship to us. We are His bride, and he honors and treats us with respect (please see my series on Romance).

I don't see this reflection of God in our relationships. I don't see God reflected in the way, more and more, our women are treated in the West. Young girls now think it's okay to send nude pictures of themselves via camera phone (as young as 11 or 12). "Sexting" is the new rage. The Romance is taken out of marriage. The meaning is taken out of marriage. The disrespect of women in hip-hop especially, and pop culture now, is no better, in my view, than the way pagan societies treated their women. Not what I viewed women's liberation to be about.

It's all about our having continually over the years, allowed government and corporations to remove Christ, and God's Law from our lives. We Christians had better find a way of presenting Christ's message about how to treat people, how to reflect God's Law and Love into our relationships, or we will once again find ourselves in pagan times. Many would like that. I would rather see the human condition improve and human suffering diminish.

Serious Look at the Bailout - Conservative View

Every time there's been a tax cut, revenues to the government have gone up. Problem is, so does government spending, in excess of revenues. What this bail out is like, is borrowing from your Capital One credit card to pay your Bank of America credit card.

The Bailout Explained

A Day (off) in the Life

It's amazing how my day off went so quickly and so much was done, and how complete I feel. I couldn't sleep last night, so I napped fitfully in my recliner until about 5 am. Brewed some great Trader Joe's Free Trade coffee (I like and support the free trade concept) and read a few chapters of an incredible book, "The Gospel According to Paul". The author lays a great foundation of the rabbinical traditions over centuries that the Apostle Paul drew from, and was trained in. That's layered into what the Middle East and Mediterranean was like two thousand years ago. This book so captures the heart and foundation of ancient Judaism and the early Christian church. I'm loving it. I read several chapters this morning and made a lot of blog entries. Taking a couple weeks off from writing created some inertia, but I think I'm back on.

On to the dentist and got some bling for my choppers. Porcelin crowns crack, so now we have a gleam of gold.

I went and saw "Slumdog Millionaire", which is so amazing and wonderful. Great story and well told.

Later I talked awhile with my 80 year old aunt that lives in Oregon. More stories of the days of her early life. How it took about five months, when she was a kid, to move from Nebraska to Oregon, often camping out to save money. Stories of growing up, and her grandma and aunts. She'll be sending me some quilts and other things made by great great grandma's and great grandma's and aunts, and some old photos from the thirties and forties.

The rest of the day chores. We have a dozen ironed shirts, all laundry, cleaning, vacuuming. bills paid, letters written, Facebook and MySpace...done.

A productive, entertaining, informed day.

I liked it.

Eric Holder’s Law Firm and Gitmo Detainees

This is the man nominated to be US Attorney General, to represent US CITIZENS! His past doesn't show much interest in that.

"[A]s nearly 100 of the remaining detainees are Yemenis, reflecting that country’s refusal to assure security for repatriated Yemenis, note that AG nominee Eric Holder is a senior partner with Covington & Burling, a prestigious Washington, D.C. law firm, which represents 17 Yemenis currently held at Gitmo. From the C & B website:

'The firm represents 17 Yemeni nationals and one Pakistani citizen held at Guantanamo Bay. The Supreme Court will soon review the D.C. Circuit’s ruling that ordered the dismissal of a number of habeas petitions filed by Guantanamo detainees; some of our clients are petitioners in the Supreme Court case. We expect to play a substantial role in the briefing. We also plan to petition the Supreme Court to hear our Pakistani client’s appeal from the D.C. Circuit’s order dismissing his case. Further, we are pursuing relief in the D.C. Circuit under the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 for all of our clients. On a separate front, we filed amicus briefs and coordinated the amicus effort in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld in which the Supreme Court in the summer of 2006 invalidated President Bush’s military commissions and in which we have obtained favorable rulings that our clients have rights under the Fifth Amendment and the Geneva Conventions.'

Covington & Burling’s Gitmo bar roster has included some of the most radical detainee advocates; see David Remes, who peeled down to his underwear at a press conference in Yemen to draw attention to his clients’ plight and Marc Falkoff, who published a book of detainee poetry and who, in the book’s intro, compared their heroic struggle to the Jews held in concentration camps and Japanese Americans held in internment camps during WWII. [One of Falkoff's "gentle, thoughtful" young poets--a Kuwaiti "cleared for release" and repatriated in 2005--blew himself up in a truck bomb in Mosul last March, killing 13 Iraqi army soldiers and wounding 42 others.]

The fact that Mr. Holder, while Deputy Attorney General, pushed for the release of 16 violent FALN terrorists against the advice of the FBI, the US Attorneys who prosecuted them and the NYPD officers who were maimed by them, suggests that he was perfectly willing to put politics before the national security interests of the country. He is not suited for the job of attorney general, which is central to the issues surrounding the disposition of war on terror detainees."

Thanks to michellemalkin.com

One Party Rule in Amerika

The Democrat Party now controls Congress, the Judiciary, and the Executive branches of government. They also have the mainstream (leftstream) media repeating everything said by our new government without question or investigation. When things go wrong, I wonder how they'll blame the Republicans? It'll be tough because Republicans have been complicit in much of what has gone wrong, and have no power, but the blame will be successfully laid nonetheless.

"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." --James Madison

Obama's Inaugaration Speech Translated

Selected excerpts from our analysis for your
consideration:
BHO: "My fellow citizens," Apostles and disciples of hope and change,

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear,
unity of purpose over conflict and discord." Disagree with me and you must
be racist or ignorant, or both.

"Our Founding Fathers ... drafted a charter to assure the rule
of law and the rights of man ... and we will not give them up for expedience's
sake." But we will overwrite them with judicial diktats until my rule is the
rule of law.

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them -- that the stale political arguments that have consumed us
for so long no longer apply." Our founders are dead and so is their vision for our nation.

"In the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things." Disagree with me and you are in violation of Scripture.

"We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every
end of this Earth..." Let's not offend anyone with the simple and undeniable truth that our national heritage rests on a Judeo-Christian foundation.


"Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and
irresponsibility on the part of some..." Blame our badly weakened economy on Wall Street greed and irresponsibility rather than Democrats in Congress.


"The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and
we will act ... to lay a new foundation for growth." Government growth...

"The question we ask today is not whether our government is too
big or too small, but whether it works." More government growth...

"Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for
good or ill ... but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the
market can spin out of control." We must not only grow the government, but also ensure that it regulates every aspect of the economy.


"The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous." Darwin had it right, except in regard to human nature and free market capitalism.

"A new era of responsibility..." An era in which the
fiscally responsible will bear an ever-greater tax burden for those of us who
are not...

"Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of
confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable,
that the next generation must lower its sights." The crisis of confidence and propagation of fear was the staple of my campaign rhetoric, and it was largely responsible for my election.

"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off,
and begin again the work of remaking America." I will remake America into Amerika.

"We will restore science to its rightful place." Global warming hysteria is a great catalyst for expanding government control.


"The world has changed, and we must change with it." Outwith national sovereignty and in with the New World Order...


"Power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as
we please." Appeasement works...


"Our security emanates from the justness of our cause; the force
of our example; the tempering qualities of humility and restraint."
Appeasement really works...


"To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual
interest and mutual respect." To the Islamic terrorists, we seek to appease you.


"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." Except for my mentors Frank Marshall Davis, Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers, and my colleagues in the Democrat Party, the Socialist New Party, the ACORN crowd, Rod Blagojevich, Richard Daley, Saul Alinsky, Father Michael Pfleger, Khalid al-Mansour, Kwame Kilpatrick, Louis Farrakhan, Rashid Khalidi and Raila Odinga. You guys can just keep up the good work.

"This is the source of our confidence: the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny." I am calling on you to follow me.

(Thanks to 'Best of the Web')

A Friend Asks Why Her Child Suffers So

There are no words of comfort that will suffice for something so terrible as a parent's suffering child. I've never thought anyone exempt from human suffering. I've experienced and seen too much of it; by all of us. Putting, possibly, in some perspective, Peter writes: "Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God."

Oswald Chambers addressed the suffering of the sanctified, a child: "The sufferings of the sanctified are caused by growing into the idea of the will of God. God did not spare His own Son, and He does not spare His sanctified ones from the requirements of saintship. A child is a perfect specimen of the genus homo, so is a man. The child as it develops, suffers; it is a false mercy that spares a child any requirements of its nature to complete the full stature of manhood, and it is a false mercy that spares the sanctified child of God any of the requirements of its nature to complete 'the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ'. We do not evolve into holiness, it is a gift - we evolve in it, attainment after attainment, becoming sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus. That is Paul's meaning in Philippians 3:12, 13, 'reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal'.

A child in the natural world is not fit for life unless it is perfectly healthy; sanctification is spiritual health, 'perfect soundness'. May the God of peace sanctify us wholly so that we are no longer sickly souls retarding His purposes, but made 'perfect through suffering'. Oh, that from every heart may rise the yearning longing, as from the apostle Paul."

I grieve for my friend, and her suffering child. I grieve for any suffering. I grieve too, for the suffering of Christ, and that we all fall so short of His sacrifice that will provide for us if we but fully embrace and accept it.

Some Thoughts on the Eve of Obama's Coronation

We’re experiencing the worst economic set back since the Carter administration, and Obama is spending an estimated 170 million bucks. The actual swearing-in ceremony will cost $1.24 million, according to Carole Florman, spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. The federal government estimates that it will spend roughly $49 million on the inaugural weekend. Most I hope will be going to security. The Bush inauguration cost less, and there was a downturn in the economy then too. The Democrats and their spokesmen in the mainstream press were just outraged! by such extravagance then.


This near hysteria about what he brings is frightening. He brings no experience to the table. He’s a college professor and social activist (I too in my Marxist days was a fan of Saul Alinsky) that was promoted to power by the most corrupt political machine in America. Change will be negligible. He’s rehired the Clinton administration. His nominee for Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, didn’t pay his FICA (Social Security and Medicare) tax from 2001 through 2004. Other tax issues also surfaced during the vetting, including the fact Geithner used his child's time at overnight camps in 2001, 2004 and 2005 to calculate dependent-care tax deductions. Sleepaway camps don't qualify as deductions.

Amended tax returns that Geithner filed recently include $4,334 in additional taxes, and $1,232 in interest for infractions, such as an early-withdrawal penalty from a retirement plan, an improper small-business deduction, a charitable-contribution deduction for ineligible items, and the expensing of utility costs that went for personal use.


So here’s a Democrat, the pro-tax party, gaming the system, and was caught lying about it; the same press and political party that attacked Joe the Plumber for being about five thousand dollars in tax arrears. He is a private citizen that was attacked by the press and the state of Ohio. Geithner is given a pass and promoted, because he’s a liberal.


Then there’s Attorney General Nominee, Eric Holder, that has a lot of legal baggage including the pardon of tax evader and gun runner Mark Rich, as well as the freeing of some terrorists.

I see no change coming from this administration. Race? Obama spent twenty years in a vile racist anti American church. It is in that very racial hatred and hostility in which Obama has been steeped, particularly by mentors such as Jeremiah Wright. Part of the corrupt Illinois political machine is the race machine. Chicago was not only a denizen of racial hatred but the violent black supremacist movement was born there. Martin Luther King said, "Those who are associated with 'Black Power' and black supremacy are wrong."

I see no hope here. I do hope that he tells Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and John Conyers to stop talking about wanting to bring criminal charges against Bush and Cheney for their political decisions. I see no change here. I see politicians being politicians and taking away the peoples’ money and power. That an African American is elected is a good thing. That he comes with no life experience, only book learning, a Marxist ideology, and is already awash in corruption, concerns me. Obama ran as a projection screen, and his voters projected whatever change and hope they wanted on him. Now he has to make decisions, and be specific. In the morning prayer yesterday in service, our pastor prayed for Obama. I pray that this country survives his administration without so much damage that we can't recover without a lot of national pain; and that includes a homeland terrorist attack if he successfully dismantles, as he promised, the security structure Bush put in place.

Sermon Without a Word

Sermon Without a Word

................

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the preacher decided to visit him.
It was a chilly evening. The preacher found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his preachers visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.
The preacher made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the preacher took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone then he sat back in his chair, still silent.
The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead.
Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The preacher glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow,once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.
As the preacher reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, 'Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday.'
We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little.
Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.

Don't Mess with Seasoned Citizens

Shown below, is an actual letter that was sent to a bank by an 86
old woman. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it
published in the New York Times.

Dear Sir
I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I
endeavored to pay my plumber last month.
By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his
presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed
to honor it.

I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire
pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only
eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of
opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty
for the inconvenience caused to your bank. My thankfulness springs
from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my
errant financial ways..

I noticed that whereas I personally answer your telephone calls and
letters, --- when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the
impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your
bank has become. From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal lwith
a flesh-and-blood person.

My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer
be automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by check, addressed
personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you
must nominate.

Be aware that it is an offense under the Postal Act for any other
person to open such an envelope. Please find attached an Application
Contact which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry
it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or
her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note
that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by
a Notary Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial
situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied
by documented proof. In due course, at MY convenience, I will issue
your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings
with me.

I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have
modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my
account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is
the sincerest form of flattery.

Let me level the playing field even further.
When you call me, press buttons as follows:

IMMEDIATELY AFTER DIALING, PRESS THE STAR (*) BUTTON FOR ENGLISH
#1. To make an appointment to see me
#2. To query a missing payment.
#3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
#4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping
#5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
#6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home
#7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my
computer is required. Password will be communicated to you at a later
date to that Authorized Contact mentioned earlier.
#8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7.
#9. To make a general complaint or inquiry. The contact will then be
put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service.
#10. This is a second reminder to press* for English. While this may,
on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for
the duration of the call.

Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an
establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement. May
I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous New Year?

Your Humble Client

Mississippi Squrrel Revival - Ray Stevens

Fall out your chair funny!!!

Romance III

Before my media detox, I was caught up in political arguments, news analysis, some sports (more during football season), my overwhelmingly stressful job and divers other things. Even though I worship and sing God's praises, these other things sometimes took center stage; I would loose the sense of God's romance, His love. I see it in others too; in religious, churched people. I have friends, when talking religion, talk scripture, chapter and verse. The Bible as a manual for living; like it's a rule book. I went to breakfast with a friend, and when I finished the blessing for the meal, I was admonished that I should quote scripture at part of the prayer. Say what? It's limiting. If we want to bring others to Christ, we should romance them, like God romances us. There is love and mystery here in our Christ story, and it's shared sacrifice, mystery and love. From Frederick Buechner's "Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy and Fairy Tale":

"It is a world of magic and mystery, of deep darkness and flickering starlight. It is a world where terrible things happen and wonderful things too. It is a world where goodness is pitted against evil, love against hate, order against chaos, in a great struggle where often it is hard to be sure who belongs to which side because appearances are endlessly deceptive. Yet for all its confusion and wildness, it is a world where the battle goes ultimately to the good, who live happily ever after, and where in the long run everybody, good and evil alike, becomes known by his true name.... That is the fairy tale of the Gospel with, of course, one crucial difference from all other fairy tales, which is that the claim made for it is that it is true, that it not only happened once upon a time but has kept on happening ever since and is happening still."

In this year I never want to set God aside in the narrative of my life. I want the Romance to mature. I want my life to remain a matter of the heart. I want my heart to sing in perfect harmony with the song of God's heart. I want this to be an epic Romance. I want to share this Romance, with all my heart, mind and soul.

Romance II

Love can't be forced. God could force it, create it in us, being God. Then it wouldn't be love. We wouldn't love Him with all our heart, mind and soul. God is about choices, giving us choices, so we can be genuine. God has a problem. He's omnipotent. How do you love someone that powerful? How is God going to court us, romance us, and win our hearts? From Soren Kierkegaard, "Disappointment with God":

"Suppose there was a king who loved a humble maiden. The king was like no other king. Every statesman trembled before his power. No one dare breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all opponents. And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden. How could he declare his love for her? In an odd sort of way, his kingliness tied his hands. If he brought her to the palace and crowned her head with jewels and clothed her body in royal robes, she would surely not resist-no one dared resist him. But would she love him?

She would say she loved him, of course, but would she truly? Or would she live with him in fear, nursing a private grief for the life she had left behind? Would she be happy at his side? How could he know? If he rode to her forest cottage in his royal carriage, with an armed escort waving bright banners, that too would overwhelm her. He did not want a cringing subject. He wanted a lover, an equal. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden and to let shared love cross the gulf between them. For it is only in love that the unequeal can be made equal."

In the story, the king renounces his throne and presents himself to her as a beggar.

Just as God sent His Son. How much love can be offered that so much sacrifice is made? God entered his own creation and suffered for us and with us. The result of that love? From Romans 5: "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His won love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."

How great is this Love, that such a sacrifice is made, with no assurance of returned Love. This fills me with His Love. My heart sings. I hear His song.

Romance

I had removed myself the last two weeks of this past year from news and analysis, even from my favorite blogs. I called it a detox from the world, and it was. Nearly four weeks have gone by. I’ve just recently started again watching and thinking about the conflicts, lies and hatred that is constantly washing over nearly everything we experience. I missed church too the past couple Sundays, and choir practice, because my back spasms were so bad that often I couldn’t stand up straight, and the pain was intense. The past few days the results of the media detox became apparent, and I felt overwhelming Love, the Love of God. In church today I was so full of His Spirit I felt I was vibrating. I felt so much of His Love for all in the church, and most especially for my fellow singers in the choir. The joy was inexpressible. The source of this is the Romance of God, knowing that he loves me ever so much, that he loves us all so incredibly. That Romance comes out of this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all you soul, with all your mind”, and I do. Acting on that “…and your neighbor as yourself”. Here’s a realization that God has come to us, he’s asking us for our love. This is a matter of the Heart. God is touching our Heart. He romances us, not us him. “So long as we imagine it is we who have to look for God, we must often lose heart. But it is the other way about-He is looking for us.” (Simon Tugwell) I have so many times not recognized this love,or responded to it. God so loves me, and when I recognize it and accept; I so much more love others. Here’s the thing; as many times as I’ve gotten caught up in activities that distracted me, God still pursued me. The whole of what Simon Tugwell said: “So long as we imagine that it is we who have to look for God, we must often lose heart. But it is the other way about; He is looking for us. And so we can afford to recognize that very often we are not looking for God; far from it, we are in full flight from him, in high rebellion against him. And He knows that and has taken it into account. He has followed us into our own darkness; there where we thought finally to escape him, we run straight into his arms. So we do not have to erect a false piety for ourselves, to give us the hope of salvation. Our hope is in his determination to save us and he will not give in.” What came out of my weeks of media detox, and busyness, was this recognition of God’s Love. It’s a Romance. It’s sacred. There was courtship. He was patient. I was in my mid-40’s when I re-joined the Church and got baptized. The last fifteen years of that courtship, I spurned Him, and He loved me still, and was there. Since that time, the Romance has grown and matured. I get distracted sometimes, and lose sight of Him. But I turn and He’s there to comfort and support me. All of us God has romanced. Since before time he loved us. He loves us all for who we are and not what we do. Think of the time you were in love, (and for the fortunate few that fell in love and remained in love), how you felt (feel) toward that person. Your heart sang. God’s heart sings for us. We just need to hear the song.

Asturias - Isaac Albeniz

This is John Williams

A Prayer by Pastor Jack Hayford

Lord God, Creator of all, Maker of my heart ... I bring it to You this morning.

My heart ... which at various times has been lifted in praise to You, rejoices over Your goodness and giving to me.

My heart … which also sometimes cowers in fear before people and problems—when I forget You are bigger than them all—has been stained by mediations unworthy of a child made in Your image. It has been lifted up in pride over attainments accomplished by Your hand alone.

And, Lord, my heart is often hardened as well. I bring my heart to You this day for softening...

… like a child's, softened to forgive quickly, easily, without judgment, prejudice, bitterness, or resentment;

… like a field, softened to receive seeds of Your truth, that the fruit of Your Holy Spirit might be produced through my life;

… like clay, softened, that I might be shaped today more completely into the man or the woman You want me to become.

Forgive my hardness of heart when it results from my own disobedience, neglect, or outright resistance to Your ways.

Deliver me, lest my heart shrink by reason of this dryness and hardening. Flow the rivers of Your life over my heart, and bring it to renewal, O Lord.

And where my heart is hardened simply by the heat of duty, the weariness of work, the attack of enemies, the slings and arrows of the inconsiderate or crude … at those points, give me a vision of Your heart today, Lord. For although I have wounded Your love by my failures, You have never hardened Your heart against me.

So, dear God, let my heart be softened today in the same way as Yours toward any who have done to me as I have to You. Deliver me from all temptation to smallness or hardness of heart, and fill my life this morning with Your will and Your Word.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my redeemer (Psalm 19:14).

Through Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Life Expectancy Calculator

http://www.sonnyradio.com/realage3.swf

This is pretty cool...

Foghorn Leghorn Swoggled-1948